Brasília – A 25% hike in the minimum price of wheat was called for yesterday (18) by representatives of cooperatives of the states of Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul in a meeting with the minister of Agriculture, Reinhold Stephanes. Apart from that, they asked for the maintenance of the Common Export Tariff (TEC), at 10%, on imports of the product from countries outside the Mercosur, the economic bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
According to the secretary of Agriculture of Paraná, Valter Bianchinni, who was also in the meeting, the minister sent positive signals regarding the maintenance of the TEC, until it becomes necessary to remove it.
"Producers are not against reduction of the TEC, but feel that it must be at the right moment, not now. The country has a stock of around three million tonnes and should have to import another three million by the end of the crop, in around October," stated the secretary. He added that it would be ideal for the tariff to be maintained until July.
The new minimum price called for is 600 Brazilian reals (US$ 256) per tonne, whereas the current value is 480 reals (US$ 205). This action, according to representatives of the productive chain, would guarantee the trade of wheat after the crop. Before that, producers called for 2.5 billion reals (US$ 1.1 billion) in credit for crop funding, which begins in March.
Brazil consumes 10.2 million tonnes of wheat a year, whereas production should be six million tonnes in this crop, although it was four million in the last crop and little over two million in the previous crop.
To the president of the Union and Organization of Cooperatives of the State of Paraná (Ocepar), João Paulo Koslovski, the country should aim at producing what it consumes. "Brazil must export wheat. We have potential for that. Our wheat is of good quality and has a market."
Koslovski praised the National Wheat Plan, launched last year by the government to expand the volume produced in the country. "It was among the most important factors for expansion of production. It provided funds for around one third of the volume produced," he said.
*Translated by Mark Ament
